Centr-Am News, week of August 16 through
August 22, 1998. Sandinista National Liberation Front
(FSLN) Secretary General and former Nicaraguan president
Daniel Ortega incurred the wrath of sugar cane workers,
protesting for over two years their having been robbed of
shares in sugar processing plants during the privatization
process. The protesters accused Ortega, along with the
government, of mishandling the privatization.

Centr-Am News, week of 20 September–3
October 1998. The Nicaraguan Banana Workers (Trabanic)
says all attempts at negotiations have been exhausted, and
so there will be a strike of indefinite length on
planatations that have not increased wages. Plantation
owners say the strike is illegal because the workers
already earn more than the minimum wage required by
law.

By David Gonzalez, The New York Times, 29
August 2001. With no land and no work, thousands of
coffee-field hands beg for food, jobs or attention to
their needs. A steep drop in coffee prices on the world
market has led to a crisis in Central America, forcing
growers to scale back or to close down.

Nicaragua Network Hotline, 16 December
2002. Hundreds of former workers on banana plantations who
were exposed to the pesticide NEMAGON during the Somoza
years were awarded nearly US$500,000 in a landmark
judgment on their case. Dow Chemicals, Dole Food Company
(formerly Standard Fruit Company) and Shell Oil must pay
damages.